Lillian tried to focus on her book in the sweltering heat, but she was distracted constantly by thoughts of Anton. He came into her mind like a cool breeze.
Lowering her book to her lap, she allowed herself to daydream. She found herself recalling the first time she had set eyes on him, moments after the crash, when he wrenched the car door open and peered in at her.Is everyone all right?
A movement caught her eye just then. She sat forward on the lounge chair, her heart lurching in her chest, because it was him walking casually toward her, down the grassy slope to the pool, smiling the entire way. Lillian swallowed hard and raised her sunglasses to the top of her head. Heaven help her, he was the most attractive man she’d ever seen in real life. On that morning, he wore a baby-blue T-shirt and navy shorts, his jaw unshaven. He was covered in sweat. The T-shirt stuck to his chest and shoulders. All her senses began to hum, and her pulse quickened.
As he drew near, Lillian noticed he was wearing work boots.
“Hello there,” he said, opening the wooden gate to step onto the sunny pool deck. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“My morning tour got canceled,” she explained, quickly reaching for her cover-up and slipping her arms into the short sleeves. He was her boss, after all. She shouldn’t be parading around the workplace in her bikini. “The bus had a flat tire outside Siena.”
“That was bad luck.” He flicked the iron latch on the gate to close it behind him and walked toward her. “Bloody hot, isn’t it?”
“Yes. The water’s nice, though.”
He arrived at the lounge chair beside her, sat down with his back to her, and began to unlace his boots. She couldn’t resist looking at the firm muscles across his back and the way his broad shoulders narrowed to a slim waist.
“Were you working in the vineyard?” she asked.
“Yes. We’ve been there since daybreak, but now it’s siesta time. Too hot to work in the sun.”
He removed his boots and socks, stood up, and stripped off his T-shirt.
Lillian took one look at his bare chest, and her breath caught in her lungs, for he was fit, tanned, and muscular, with dark chest hair.
After tossing the shirt onto the lounge chair, he strode to the outdoor shower, rinsed off, then dived straight into the pool with a big splash. She watched him swim below the surface like a torpedo from the deep end to the shallow before breaking the surface and flicking his hair out of his eyes.
“Feels great!” he shouted. “You should come in. It’s too hot to be sitting in the sun.”
She couldn’t resist. Standing up, she shrugged out of the cover-up, let it fall, then strode quickly to the edge of the pool and dived in. When she emerged, Anton was treading water a few feet away.
“I can’t believe how hot it is,” she said, “and I live in Florida.” She ran her hand down her face to whisk away the water.
They swam around each other for a moment or two.
“How is the sucker removal going?” she asked with a grin.
“Very well.” He ducked beneath the surface and swam to the shallow end. Lillian did the same but swam in the opposite direction.
Before long, it grew awkward, perhaps because they both recognized a mutual attraction and knew it was dangerous. Perhaps, in the water, under the hot Italian sun, with their bodies bare, it was best to put some distance between them.
Eventually, Lillian got out of the pool and returned to her lounge chair, where she toweled off, sat down, and reached for her book again.
Anton continued to swim laps.
She opened to the page where she had inserted the bookmark but only pretended to be reading. How could she possibly concentrate whenshe couldn’t take her eyes off Anton and her entire being was humming with awareness?
After a time, he relaxed in the water. He closed his eyes and floated on his back.
Cicadas buzzed like electric currents in the olive trees. A butterfly flitted lightly across the surface of the water.
Eventually Anton opened his eyes and swam to the side of the pool. “Are you coming for dinner tonight?”
Lillian laid her book down on her lap. Lifting her sunglasses off her nose to look down at him, she asked, “Am I invited?”
“Of course. You’re invited every night. Everyone expects you.”
Their gazes locked and held. She felt her shoulders burning under the hot sun. “Then I’ll be there.”
